3 MINISTERS AND APPOINTMENTS
General principle
3.1
Ministers have a duty to ensure that influence over civil service and public appointments is not abused for partisan purposes
Civil service appointments must be made in accordance with the requirements of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 and the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. Public appointments should be made in accordance with the requirements of the law and, where appropriate, the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

1.5. Highest ethical standards to be applied at all times
Office holders in particular should
- act only by reference to and dedicate the resour es of their offices in furtherance of the public interest
- make decisions and encourage and support the making of decisions on merit and without discrimination
- not be influenced in their official duties by personal considerations
- be accountable for their decisions
- protect the integrity of the offices they hold
- respect confidences entrusted to them in the course of their official duties
- respect at all times the role of the Accounting Officers of their Departments and the obligations of staff under the Civil Service Code of Conduct.

2.2.7. Appointments
Subject to provisions in legislation or other formal requirements for the establishment of Government bodies or the filling of positions, appointments by members of the Government should be made on the basis of merit, taking into account the skills, qualifications and experience of the person to be appointed, as well as any other elevant criteria including, for example, requirements in relation to gender balance.

1.9 Ethics Framework
The ethics framework for office holders is set out in the: -
Ethics in Public Office Act, 1995 and the Standards in Public Office Act, 2001, Guidelines on Compliance with the provisions of those Acts and Code of Conduct for Office Holders as drawn up by the Government and operative since 3 July 2003.

Office holders are obliged to familiarise themselves with and observe those requirements.

This Code of Practice sets out the principles to be observed in respect of
both external and internal appointments to positions in the Civil Service, An
Garda Síochána, the Health Service Executive, the Health Information and
Quality Authority, any other public body to which the application of the
Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004 has
been extended by order of the Minister for Finance

SECTION 9 MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The relevant government minister is responsible for
all matters relating to recruitment including
eligibility criteria, terms and conditions and use or
knowledge of the Irish language.

All appointments will be made in accordance with the legislation governing appointments to each body. The Minister will not be restricted to considering only those who have responded to this invitation.

Alot of the codes of conducts speak about financial gain rather then party gain, although they do talk about public interest.

3.6 ... The public perception of the way a councillor is seen to deal with such matters is important for the maintenance of trust in local government.

3.7 ... The test to be applied by a councillor is not just what s/he might think - but rather whether a member of the public knowing the facts of the situation would reasonably think that the interest concerned might influence the person in the performance of his or her functions. If so, disclosure should
follow and a councillor should consider whether in the circumstances s/he should withdraw from consideration of the matter. In this context it is important to ensure that as well as the avoidance of actual impropriety, occasions for suspicion and appearance of improper conduct are also avoided in case of private or personal interests.

These quotes are in reference to disclosure of interests but I think it shows that the rule that its not just corruption but the perception of corruption that must be avoided applies for councillors generally.

Membership of either House of Oireachtas or European Parliament.
26.—(1) Where a member of a Board is—
(a) nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann, or
he or she shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Board.

Speech by Minister Jimmy Deenihan
Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

To ensure that appointments by the Minister of the day to these boards will have regard to an independent assessment process, based on a skills matrix to be drawn up by the Minister and managed through the Public Appointments Service;

To scale back the boards of the National Gallery of Ireland, IMMA and the Crawford Gallery to a maximum of 9 members each, including the Chair, all serving on a pro bono basis;

Minister Deenihan stated: "this is an exciting opportunity for suitable and experienced people to help shape the future of these wonderful institutions. We are seeking to widen the pool of suitable candidates for consideration for appointment to these bodies."

Interested persons should state the Board('s) they wish to be considered for appointment to, their area of expertise, relevant experience and qualifications, and also set out clearly any actual or potential conflicts of interest if they were to be appointed to a Board.